Sewing machine



J; R. OLIVER SEWING MACHINE May 14, 1929.

Filed April a, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet \nvenTor; v John R.Oliver by Rq"uzK1/- udq y v 1. R. CLIVER V 5 SEWING MACHINE Filed April 8,1925 5Sheets-Sheet "3 I \nvenTor, n R.O\iveT W Kiw w q My Patented May 14,1929.

UldlTED STATES PATENT OFFlClE.

Jenn nouns. OLIVER, or mnnrrnnn, MASSACHUSETTS, assre-noa T nnncn sneisll'lACHltNERY GOLIPA'NY, OF BOSTON,

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATIUN 0 Mdllliflt.

SEWING MACHINE.

Application filed April 8, 1925. Serial No. 21,5d4.

This invention relates to sewing machines, and more especially a shoesewing machine of the class known as a welt-and-turn machine, in whichthe shoe insole is stitched 'to the shoe upper lip and to the well;strip, although the novel features are applicable to other machines forstitching welts or strips to various materials.

The general object of the present invention is to improve the operationof such sewing machines and especially to improve the mode of feeding,guiding and applying the welt strip. The usual means for guiding thewelt strip to the work is what is known as the back gage, an example ofwhich is shown in my prior application 712,035, filed May 9, 1924-, thisinstrument comprising a long shank or liar slidable forwardly andrearwardly toward and from the work and carrying at its front end aguide means in the nature of a loop through which the welt passes andwhich is regularly vibrated during the stitching, as to give the wellknown cycle of operations. This plan of controlling the welt presents anumher of practical diflicultics, including" the fact that the welt isnot manipulated to the best advantage, and is not laid smoothly andaccurately against the surface of the shoe or other work to which it isto be attached. A further object of the present invention is thereforeto overcome the well known drawbacks and objections presented by thewelt manipulating devices as heretofore known. tllher and furtherobjects and advantages of the present invention will be pointed out inthe hereinafter following description of one form or embodiment of theinvention, or will be apparent to those skilled in the subject.

T6 the attainment of the aforesaid objects and. a dvan tagges thepresent invention consists in the novel sewing machine, and welt handlii mechanism, and the lure. of eon'ihination, arrangement, operalion,coustriutio-u and detail as herein illustrailed or described. I

lo the accouuianyi11g drawings Fig. l is a right hand elevation of asulticicnt portion or :1 shoe sewing: machine to illustrate theprinciples of the present invention.

his: 2 is a rear elevation partly in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

l ig'. 3 is a front elevation of certain of the parts of the mechanismincluding: the welt conduit or .rrooved block constituting one of thecharacteristic features of the invention.

welt and the work;

several novel fea- Fig. l: is a right elevation in part similar to Fig.1, but with the mechanism in a differ ent position, and with the shoeand its relation to the mechanisms indicated.

Fig. 5 is substantially a left end view of the welt conduit of the otherfigures.

Fig. 6 is a plan'view of the welt conduit from above. i

Fig. 7 is a right end view of the same.

8 is abottom view of the same.

Fig. 9 is a slanting view taken partly in section on theline 9-9 of Fig.5.

Fig. 10 is a section taken on the slanting line l0-l0 of Fig. 4 or 5,and showing the relation of the welt conduit member to the the thicknessof plate 4.8 and other small dimensions being somewhat exaggerated forclearness of illustration.

Referring to the drawings, some of the well known stitching instrumentsof welt sewing machines are shown. Thus the work rest or bumper A is aninstrument against which the work may be held during the stitching,giving support against rearward movement during the extraction of theneedle, this member having a sliding shank a which intermittently lookedforward and permitted to yield rearwardly in each stitch cycle. A.channel guide B is indicated, this entering; the channel in the shoesole and thus giving' guidance to the progressin shoe. The needle C isbarbed, and preferably of the curred type, arranged to enter andpenetrate the welt strip w, the shoe upper y, and the sole lip m, fromthe rear side, and to retract bearing a loop of thread supplied to theneedle by the usual looper, not herein shown.

The machine frame may comprise a tall. post, the upper end 10 of whichis shown, an above this are various frame parts, including two uprightwalls, the left hand wall ill and the right hand wall 12, which affordhearings for the operating shaft 13, and between which is accommodatcdmost of the operating); much anism. The shaft may he, foruu-rd withcranks to perform certain movements and cams for other movements. .ilinoutside cam disk letis shown and an inside cam disk '15, beingrespectively at the left and right haiul sides of the left wall 11. r

The work rest A, as stated, is supported on a shank a which. is arrangedto slide forwa rdly and rearwardly in suitable slideways in the leftwall 11. The spring 1'? is arranged to pull forwardly on the shank andwork rest,

' loo lockmember are utilized in part also for effecting the locking andreleasing of. the welt conduit member to be described, and forconvenience so much of the connections as pertain tothe bumper lockmember will now be described. The inside cam disk 15, on theoperatingshaft13, is provided with a peripheral cam 20, which cooperateswith a follower 21 on a cam lever 22 located slantingly at the rear ofthe shaft. A spring 23 presses on the cam lever to hold the follower tothe cam. The lever has a hub 24 pinned to a rock shaft 25 arrangedparallel to the main shaft at the rear part of the machine. At anotherpoint on the. shaft 25 it is provided with a downwardly extending rockarm 27 to the lower end of which is pivoted a link 28 extendingforwardly and pivoted to the upper end of a guide arm 29, formed in onepiece with a forward arm 30, the two fulcrumed at 31 to a fixed part. Bythese connections the link 28 is oscillated forwardly and rearwardly insynchronism with the other movements of the machine. At an intermediatepoint on the link 28 is pivoted a link 32 extending down wardly andrear-wardly to the lower end of Cit the bumper grip arm 18. Theseseveral parts are so calculated that the grip arm will be swungrearwardly into contact with the shank a, so as to lock the bumperforward while the needle is being retracted from the work. 7 f V Theneedle actuating lever 35 is indicated in Fig. 2, but for convenienceelsewhere omitted as not directly involved in the present invention. Thedetails however are fully shown ina copending application Serial No.25,7 53,filed April 25, 1925, to which reference Vmay be had. Fig. 2.merely shows that the hub of the'needle lever 35 is formed with avertical slot 36 engaging a block 37 turning loosely on the countershaftor axle 25, for the purpose of'enabling the effective center of theneedle lever to be shifted during stopping for purposes described in thecopending application.

'The welt guiding and applying means of this invention'comprises what Iterm a welt conduit 40, in the nature of a tube, or rather an elongatedblock formed with a longitudinal groove, tunnel or passageway ofsubstantial length, through which the welt strip may pass freely from asource of supply and in a definite manner, the conduit member designedand arranged so that the welt strip issuing from its end near thestitching point is laid smoothly and tangentially directly against theshoe or work to which the strip is to be attached. The welt conduitmember is shown in exterior front view in Fig. 3, and in right elevationin Figs. 1 and 4, while Figs. 5 and 7 show longitudinal end views fromthe left and right and Figs. 6 and 8 face views from the top and bottom,Figs. 9 and 10 being sections on the planes 99 and 10-10 of. Fig. 5. Theblock is shown as having a very irregular conformation for various)urposcs, including its mounting, and the need of clearing certain otherparts of the machine, but the precise configuration is not essential solong as the described principles of construction and operation areemployed. From the stitching point the conduit member is preferablyarranged to incline both upwardly and rearwardly to the right. A grooveextciuling through the member from end to end issues at the left end insubstantial alinement with the surface of the leather or material towhich the welt is to be attached, so that the welt is applied verysmoothly and evenly, in direct contact with the shoe, so as to minimizethe likelihood of relative displacement during the applying of stitches.The groove through the conduit member is indicated by showing its rightextremity or entrance 41, see Figs. 3, 7 and 9, and its left extremityor exit 42, see Figs. 5, 6 and 9. The tunnel or groove is preferablymade somewhat larger than the average welt or strip both in width andthickness. A gib 44 is shown within the groove, pivotally secured at itsright end, and, adjustable inwardly by a screw 45, to effectively reducethe width of the groove to suit narrow welts. A second gib 46 is shownpivoted near the exit end of the groove and similarly adjustable by ascrew 47 to reduce the thickness of the groove to accommodate it to thinwelts. Near the extreme left end of the conduit member is shown a notch48 to accommodate the needle as it oscillates forwardly and rearwardly.The lower part of the conduit member is provided with a rearwardextension 49, having at its underside ratchet teeth 50 cooperating inthe locking forward of the member at certain points of time. The conduitmember at its lower side has also a perforated lug 52 for connection toa link to be described. Extending downwardly through the body of theconduit member is a slot 54, by which the member is placed in positionupon a swinging carrier to be described. Within the slot 54 is a gib 55upon which pressure may be applied by an exterior screw or bolt 56 so asto clamp the conduit member firmly to the carrier.

It will be perceived, especially by reference to Fig. 10, that the welttunnel 41 is close to the lower forward side of the conduit member. sothat only a thin wall 43 stands between the welt and the parts of theshoe to which it is lift) being laid fiatly and to be attached. Also,the left end of this wall it is abbreviated or terminated short of thestitching point, indicated by the needle position in Fig. 10, and theleft end of the wall is arranged. and shaped, shown, so as to facilitatethe smooth application, in a substair tially tangential direction, ofthe welt tothe shoe, as well illustrated in Fig. 10. The groove, withits gibs, accurately guides the welt strip, which travels smoothly andre quires no feeding other than that afforded by the feed of the work,the welt strip thereby accurately against the work or in advance of thestitching point, so that the attachment of the welt is effected to thebest advantage. 1

ll hile the welt conduit hereof might be employed in different ways, andmounted stationarily or for movement in different ways, my preferredembodiment involves the following; features. The conduit member is somounted as to be movable toward the work in a swinging manner,preferably about an axis parallel to the feed.-direction located abovethe conduit member, although the member might in some cases.be pivotedat one end and swung at the other end. Another preferable feature isthat the conduit member is not required to be periodically retracted.from the work, as was done with the old welt gage, but is preferablypressed or held forward to the work through all parts of the stitchcycle. As will be described resilient pressure is used, prefeablycombined with means for changing the degree of pressure, the pressurebeing light while the conduit member adjusts itself to the position ofthe work, and being substantially increased before the retraction of theneedle after penetration of the work. supplemented by positive lockingmeans holding the conduit member forward to the work during needleretraction. Certain. of these features oi. novelty could be employed inconnection with welt guides other than the conduit member hereof, andclaim is made thereto irrespective of the type of welt guide. Theintercombination however of the described conduit member thereof isfound to give superior results in :wcuracy, efficiency and convenience.

In order to allow for the swinging); movemen t of the conduit member 4:0it may be deltachahly mounted on a carrier, whicl'l is shown ascon'lprising; a bar 59 extending; down *ardly into the slot 54- in theconduit member, and a yoke 60 extendingupward y and having hubs (51fulcrumcd on an axle 652, shown ()j'ill'llllllllfl substantiallyparallel to the direction of feed of the work. The axle 62 is mounted atits right end in the side wall 152 and at its left end in a specialbracket (l-fl: se ured to the left wall 11, the bracket shaped to giveclearance of certain parts of the stitchinrr mechanism.

It will be understood that the welt conduit and the means of controlaccurately to the rack.

40 normally stands forwardly in contact with the work, but when no workis in the machine when there is no work in the machine.

The work rest or bumper A. is locked forwardly, as described, during theretraction of the needle, to rcslst the pull of the needle 1 andthread'upon the work, and it is desirable similarly to lock forward theconduit member 40 at the same parts of the stitch cycle. The toothed'ack 50 at the underside of the conduit member is used for this purposeand a dog or pawl 68 is arranged to cooperate therewith. Fig.2. 1 showsthe conduit member standing forwardly, with no work in the machine, butFin. 4; shows the machine in operati on, and. the dog 68 engaged withthe rack 50. The dog is i'nc-unted on an arm. 69 having a rear l tension70, the bell crank thus formed being fulcrumed' at 71?. It will benoticed that the effective length of the arm 69, from the fulcrum 71 tothe dog 68, is substantially tangential to the swinging movement of-therack 50, so that the fulcrum takes the brunt of the pressure, givingavery rigid locking]; effect.

In order to operate the den; 68 at certain points in the stitch cycle alink 72 shown extending from the bell crank arm to the bell. crank arm30 already mentioned, connected with the cam mechanism employed "tocontrol the locking means of grip arm 18 for the work rest A. By theseconnections the cam 20 operates not only the work rest lock 18, but theconduit member locking dog; 68, in a manner which will. be nections. W]hen the link 25% is oscillatedforwardly this swings the grip arm 18 awayfrom the work rest and swings the dog" 68 away from the rack, the twoactions being preferably sin'lultaneous. Wheu the follower Ql passes offthe enlarged part of the cam 20 the connections operate to apply bothlock members, this position being indicated in l i 4;, the otherposition in Fig. I. It desirable that the conduit member shall becapable of moving forwardly into closer (.Oll'i'llPl with the work afterthe dog 68 has moved into locking; position. For this purpose the link72 may be constructed as flollows, to iutrod ucc a resilient clcl'nent.The rear end of the link 72 is formed with av spherical head 73,

and the forward end of the arm 30 is provided with a spherical socket74- enn'agrine; the head (3. A. spring), 75 surrounds the link 72,pressing the head and socket strongly tonether. Lock nuts 76 permitadjustment of the length of the link so as to adapt the dog Normally thedownclear from the con -ward swing'of the arm merely pulls the link 72and thereby swingsthe dog down- Preferably the conduit member 10 is'pressed forwardly against the work, or

against'thestop continuously, by resilient means, for example1naccordance with the illustration. Attached to the lug 52 at the lowerrear side of the conduit'member is a long link 78, bentto clear certainparts and near its rear end passing through a slide block 7 9, which isswivelled as will be described. A

ill

spring 80 surrounding the link is confined be tween the swivel block 7 9and a pair of stop nuts'81 on the link, so that the spring is pressingforwardly, and forces the conduit member yieldingly toward the stop 65.A second coil spring 82 surrounds the rear part of the link, between theblock 7 9 and stop nuts 83. Fig. 1 shows'theseparts in normal position,

the spring 80 effecting forward pressure on the conduit member. Fig. atshows a change of adjustment wherein the spring 80 is highly compressedgiving heavy forward pressure upon the conduit member against the work.This change'of pressure be effected automatically by the followingconnections. The guide block 7 9 for the link 78 is shown swivelled nearthe lower end of a rock lever 85 which is fulcrumed on the shaft 25'asan axle. The arm 85 has an upward extension in the form of an arch 86extending to the right, as seen in Fig. 2, and united with a sleeve 87which extends through the left wall '11 of the machine frame. Exteriort0 the wall is sleeve 87, surrounded by a collar 88, adjustable on thesleeve, the collar rigidly carrying a rock arm 89 which extends upwardlyand at its extremity is pivotally connected with a link 90, which inturn extends forwardly and is pivotally connected with the upper end ofa bell crank arm 91, the other arm 92 of which extends forwardly andcarries a follower 93 engaging a cam groove94 in the face of the camdisk 14.

lVhile the welt conduit rests in contact with the work, and preferablywhile the needle is advancing through the work, the cam 9 f operatesthrough the described connections to throw heavy pressure on'the weltconduit,

thus forcing it strongly against the work, to bring it to the, mostadvantageous position, where the dog and rack hold it locked until afterthe complete retraction of the needle. The rear spring 82 is under lightor no compressiombut serves to prevent loose movement or rattling, andserves as a cushion.

The general operation of the machine will be understood to those skilledin the subject i of welt stitching. Fig. 1 shows the position withthe'needle retracted fully, the same as it are rendered effective by thecams.

would be inv final stopped position. When the machine is stitching, andabout the time the needle arrives at full retracted position the weltconduit is restored to a condition of light pressure, so that the workmay be fed without injury, the lock dog is retracted from the ratchet,and the bumper or work rest is rendered free; so that the work canreadily adjust itself, as it is fed, and these instruments readjustthemselves to the work. As the needle starts forwardly toward the workthe work rest lock and the welt conduit look About the time the needlereaches and penetrates the work the resilient pressing means isreadjusted to produce the extra powerful pres ure upon the conduit, sothat it takes a position as far forward as possible. lVhen the needleretracts the work is securely held by the work rest and welt conduit.The cooperative action of the rest of the machine will be understood.

The described mechanism may be supplemented in various ways, for exampleby the addition of welt severing means operating after completion of oneshoe, welt end positioning means, arranged to hold the loose extremityof the advanced welt in proper position for starting a new seam, or anauxiliarv feed means tending to thrust the welt through its conduittoward the stitching point. i

It will thus be seen that I have described a welt sewing machineembodying the principles and attaining the advantages of the presentinvention. Since many matters of combination, arrangement, design anddetail may be variously modified without departing from the principlesof the invention. it is not intended to limit the invention to suchmatters exceptto the extent specified in the appended claims. 7

hat is claimed is:

1. In a welt sewing machine, means for guiding the work along thedirection of feed, means for stitching the welt to the work. comprisinganeedle operated to penetrate the worl and a welt applying device,comprising an elongated conduit member arranged lon gitudinally of thefeed of the work and formed with an extended tunnel guiding theadvancing welt and applying it smoothly and directly to the work nearthe stitching point, said welt conduit member being adaptively movable,and having resilient means pressing it lightly to the work duringfeeding, and heavily during needle operation.

2. In a welt sewing machine, means for guiding the work along thedirection of feed, means for stitching the welt to the work, comprisinga needle operated to penetrate at the welt side of the work, a weltguide member, arranged at the same side of the work with the needle, andadaptively movable, a work rest also adaptively movable, and meansnormally maintaining the welt guide and work rest in continuous contactagainst the Work throughout the stitching, in all stages of each stitchcycle.

in a welt sewing machine, means for guidin the work along the directionof feed, means for stitching the welt to the worlr, comprising a needleoperated to penetrate at the welt side of the work, and a welt applyingdevice, arranged at the same side or the work with the needle, adaptedto lay the welt smoothly tangentially upon the Work, and means normallyholding the welt applying device to the Work continuously through allrts ot the stitch cycle comprising resilient p sure means and automaticconnections tor increasing and decreasing the pressure in timed relationto the stitch iormation with out retracting the device from the work.

l. in a welt sewing machine, means for guiding the work along thedirection of feed, means for stitching the welt to the work, comprisinga needle operated to penetrate at the welt side of the work, and a weltapplying device, arranged at the same side oi the work with the needle,adapted to lay the welt smoothly tangentially upon the work, and

means normally holding the weltapplying device to the wort: continuouslythrough all parts oi the stitch cycle comprising resilient pressuremeans and automatic connections tor increasing and decreasing thepressure in timed relation to the stitch formation without retractingthe device from the work, and other means for locking the device to thework during needle retraction.

5. in a welt sewing machine, means for guiding the work along thedirection oi: feed, means for stitching the welt to the Work, comprisinga needle operated to penetrate the work, a welt applying device arrangedto be always tree to move to the work, with resilient pressure meansholding said device to the work, consisting ot a stressed springnormally under light pressure, and means automatically increasing thestress and pressure oi the spring periodically in timed relation to theneedle operation.

- lfn a welt sewingmachine, means for guiding the work along thedirection of feed, means for stitching the welt to the work, comprisinga needle operated to penetrate at the welt side of the worlr, and a weltapplying device, arranged at the same side of the work with the needle,comprising a conduit point, said welt conduit member being fitted toswing toward the work, with a dog and tooth loch device to lock it tothe work, one part of said device connected to the member and the secondpart titted to swing into and out of engaging position, said second partwhen in engaging position being substantially tangent to the swing otthe member, cam connections :l'or swinging the second part of the loot:device, and a yielding element in said cam connections.

7". In a shoe sewing machine of the class for stitching welts to shoes,means for guiding the shoe along the direction of feed, means forstitcl'iing the welt to the shoe, comprising a curved barbed needleoperated to enter at the welt do or the shoe, and a welt applyingdevice, arranged at the same side of the work with the needle,comprising a welt guide member guiding the advancing welt and applyingit smoothly and directly to the shoe near the stitching point, the saidguide memher being adaptively movable, and control means operatingnormally throughout the stitching tomaintain the welt guide member incontinuous contact upon the shoe, namely, resistingly during the stitchformation and yieldingly duringthe feed in each cycle.

8. In a shoe sewing machine of the class for stitchin r welts to shoes,means for guiding a shoe along the direction of feed, a curved needleoperated to enter and penetrate at the welt side of the shoe, andadapted to receive thread at the opposite side of the shoe, and weltapplying means comprising a welt guide member, and control mechanismtherefor operating to maintain the welt guide member in continuouscontact with the shoe throughout the stitching ot' a seam by resilientforward pressure during a part of each stitch cycle including the shoefeeding period and resistingly during the remainder of each stitch cycleincluding the needle retracting period.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature hereto.

JOHN ROGER OLIVER.

